The Debt Collector Cometh

The Students of Aotearoa New
Zealand are demanding $156,081 in outstanding student debt
from five senior National Ministers. Given the IRD’s new
power to arrest overseas-based defaulters, students would
hate for our beloved Prime Minister to be arrested at
Auckland Airport on the way back from Hawaii. To avoid any
potential embarrassment with the press, we have kindly
calculated the amount owing from each of the following
ministers.

John Key, having studied a Bachelor of Commerce
at University of Canterbury, paid nothing for his degree. If
he did the same degree today at UC, it would cost him
$17,013. $29,613 is what Bill English would owe if he did
his Bachelor of Commerce (Otago) and Bachelor of Arts (Vic)
today. The Honourable Tertiary Education Minister, Steven
Joyce, having failed to get into vet school owes $17,853.60.
His Bachelor of Science (Zoology) from Massey cost him
nothing.

Judith "Crusher" Collins has burdened taxpayers
with a $36,123.40 student debt. Although Ms Collins managed
to get her LLB at Auckland done before fees were introduced,
she had to pay $5,516 ($8,932.57 in inflation-adjusted
terms) to study her Masters in Taxation Studies over four
years at UoA. If she did that same LLM today, she would have
to pay an extra $7,123.43 and her student loan eligibility
would end halfway through her LLM--thanks to her future
National party leadership rival, Steven Joyce.

Finally,
Hekia Parata would have accumulated the most debt from her
stint at Waikato. Having completed a BA and an MA at Waikato
before 1989, the Education Minister paid nothing for her
education. Today, her BA would cost $16,143 and her MA
$39,335, totaling up to $55,478.

Being reasonably minded,
New Zealand’s students only expect the same rate of
repayment as current borrowers. With a repayment rate of 12%
of pre-tax income, the highest rate in the OECD, these
Ministers really should have thought about that before
slashing tertiary education funding.

The young people of
Aotearoa New Zealand are willing to forgive these debts if
these Ministers provide students and apprentices with the
same opportunities they received. Until then, the debt
collector cometh.

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